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Showing posts from January, 2017

Buddhism Gave Me Super Powers

     If I had to describe myself in three words, I'd probably go with "comic book nerd".  The mythologies and social commentaries that can be found in comics have enraptured me for as long as I've been able to read.  While other kids spent their summers playing video games and watching TV, I preferred to patrol the streets of Gotham with Batman and fight epic battles with the Incredible Hulk.  I was fairly small for my age growing up. I didn't have my first serious growth spurt until 11th grade, so the idea of ordinary people getting super powers appealed to me.       Of course, that idea isn't new.  In fact, if we go back to the Tang dynasty in ancient China (circa. 9th - 10th century A.D.) we find that people had very similar desires.  In those days superstition was the norm, and it was common for "enlightened" masters to claim that they had supernatural powers.  Firewalking, going days without sleep, and summoning spirits were some of the

Can We Have Buddhism Without The Buddha?

     I just finished reading Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor.  I enjoyed the book immensely, and it's making me look at the dharma in a new way.   The secularized Buddha that Batchelor presents is completely lacking any religiosity.   In fact, he strikes me more as a scientist than a spiritual teacher.   I could easily picture him standing in an auditorium, presenting his data on the causes of suffering to college students, and then jetting off to give a Ted Talk on the eight-fold path .   As a result, I can't help but wonder what American Buddhism will look like 100 years from now.      Will Buddhism even be called “Buddhism”?   Or will we give it a new, more modern sounding name?   Or maybe we'll keep the name, but strip the practice of all the trappings that are normally associated with Buddhist teachings.   Perhaps the robes will be replaced with button-down shirts, and the Buddha statues will be replaced with cool-looking rocks.   I don’t know

How Anger Became My Spiritual Practice

In January of 2014, I made the decision to stop drinking alcohol.   I was meditating daily at that point, and my practice made it impossible to ignore the consequences of my drinking.  So I quit cold-turkey.  I'd like to tell you that sobriety has been all sunshine and rainbows, but it actually sucked in the beginning.  All of my friends were heavy drinkers, and most of them disappeared when I stopped partying.  The ones that didn't leave made a point of telling me that I was more fun when I drank.  Needless to say, I started spending a lot of time alone.  Worse than the social isolation, however, was being forced to actually feel my emotions.  I'd been using alcohol to keep myself numb, and getting through the week without that crutch was difficult.  That being said, it did allow me to learn some difficult truths about myself.  For example, I learned that I have an anger problem . Anger has been the fuel in my engine for as long as I can remember.  In fact, I

Barking At Ghosts And Worrying About The Future

     My roommate is a dog sitter in addition to his 9-5 job.  As a result, there is a small but steady flow of dogs running through our house at any given time.  Some of them are quiet, and I barely know they're here.  Others are obnoxious, and I can't wait for them to leave.  Some of them are house-trained.  Others leave "presents" all over the carpet.       As a result, I get many opportunities to observe dog behavior.  For example, I've noticed that they spend a good amount of time barking for no reason.  That is to say, one of them will run to the window and start sounding the alarm, and the others will start barking as a result.  But when I go to the window and look outside... there's no one there.  It happens often enough that I'll actually joke sometimes that the dogs are, "barking at ghosts" as they stare out the window and fend off imaginary intruders.  This can be more than a little annoying.      However, as I sit and reflect